Hospital bag must haves

Being a mother is one of the best feelings in the world. And being a second time mum is double the happiness. First time mums are often confused as to what to buy and what not to. With so many beautiful and cute products available in the market you feel like buying everything. Suddenly you feel that you need all of it to make your and your baby’s life comfortable. But to be true not everything out there is useful and needed.

Being a second time mom I have tried and tested a lot of these things and trust me when I say this not everything is for everyone. So here is a list of must haves that I found useful with both my kids in no particular order.

things to carry in your hospital bag

1. Diapers – a lot of brands are available out there. Pant style, normal stick on one’s, 6 hour absorption, 12 hour absorption, active baby and what not. The basic requirement of a diaper is that it should be soft on your baby’s skin, should be leak proof and should have good absorption time. Based on this and the ones that I used I found the following brands to be the best.

Wipro – these are really really soft and have excellent absorption. These can be used till ur baby completes 5 months. Well they can be used post that also but I prefer using pant style ones once the baby starts rolling and moving around in the bed.

Pampers – again really soft on your little ones skin and good absorption. Though I had a couple of leaking incidents with these. But still they are good enough. Now I mainly use their active baby 12 hour absorption one at night time.

Mamy poko pants- very useful once your baby is more mobile like once they start rolling, crawling, scooting. Being pant style they are easy to remove as you just have to rip the sides and easy to put on as well.

You also get those Johnson’s nappy pads which they say is very useful in the initial days. But they didn’t work out for me with both my kids. I always had leaking accidents with them.

2. Clothes – stack on a good number of clothes. New borns tend to spill out and vomit a lot. They might poop or pee in their clothes or you might diaper leaks. So just stock up. I basically stocked up on T-shirts, shorts, pyjamas, and cotton cloth nappies. That’s because I never preferred putting them all day in diapers. Plus they help you to keep a pee and poop count(which is very important in the initial couple of months) as you need to change them everytime they are soiled. You will also need socks and caps. No matter which season your baby is born you will need them in the initial few days. And is you have a winter baby then you will need them even more.

3. Swaddle sheets – now these are multipurpose. You can use them for swaddling, or you can use them as changing sheets, they can even be used as burp cloths, or even just putting them on the baby when he/she is sleeping. Mainly used for swaddling. Swaddling gives your baby the same feel as your womb and so they are more comfortable, plus it prevents the jerky hand and leg movements that newborns tend to have and so they sleep well. You can get these sheets from the market, online or even get them stitched. I got them stitched for both my kids (because I could select the prints and my mum is very good at stitching).

4. Skin care – a lot of brands are available in the market. I used Johnson’s powder and lotions and soap for my elder one. But she developed allergies to Johnson’s head to toe wash so had to discontinue with it in particular. With my second one I used Himalaya powder, soap and lotions. I really liked them. I even tried the Dove kids range. But eventually I ended up using Nivea white and mamaearth products (my little one developed baby acne all over his body and his skin had become very rough so I used Nivea additionally just to have extra moisturization and it worked wonders) and Dove soap(i ran out of his soap and so had to use Dove for a few days and it suited him just fine). For shampoo I have used Johnson’s no tears for both my kids and it is the best. But I have heard quite good reviews about brands like chicco and sebamed. Never tried them though.

5. Massage oils – with my elder one I used dabur lal tel and it suited very well. As my younger one had some baby acne and prickly heat in the very initial days so I was suggested to use coconut oil by his paediatrician and since it suited well so I just continued with it.

6. Changing sheets – I bought these rubber bed protectors as I already said I used cloth nappies for both my kids. I got two of them, one double bed sized and one single bed sized (which I cut into smaller sizes) and some small sized as well. They can be used anywhere and everywhere for diaper changes.

7. Baby cot or crib – in my opinion this was my Best Buy with both my kids. I know many mums prefer Co sleeping with the babies but I preferred putting my baby baby in the crib for naps. Since it has railings on all four sides I never had the fear of my baby rolling over and falling from the bed. Plus when they grow up a little and start scooting and crawling it is best they stay protected. It is said that in the initial days baby should Co sleep with the mother. But you know when you yourself have a habit of rolling a lot in your sleep it’s best your baby sleeps in the crib or else you might squish the little one by mistake. I also find the crib useful when I am moving around the house doing my daily chores. Just keep your baby in the crib give him /her some toys, turn on the musical mobile and there you go. Baby safe, no fear of falling, and mama easily doing her work. Now you can even adjust the mattress height. As your baby grows the mattress and supporting plank go down further. The crib that I have (I think I got mine from mother care) has 3 levels. So once your baby pulls itself to standing the mattress is at the lowest level.

8. Diaper bags – very useful when you are out of the house. They have separate compartments for all the things. Plus they come in various cute prints. Actually you can use any bag as a diaper bag. You just need to stuff everything in. Nowadays you even get backpack style diaper bags. They definitely have an advantage as they are easy to carry than the single shoulder ones. But again that’s a personal choice. I have used single shoulder ones both the times.

9. Diaper disposable bags – useful when you have to dispose off the soiled diapers.

10. Hand sanitizer – very very important as newborns are susceptible to infections. You can use any brand you like. I literally had a sanitizer bottle in all my rooms. And I made sure everyone used it before touching the baby.

11. Baby wipes -can be handy for anything and everything. Mainly used for whipping their bums clean. Can also be used as facial wipes. I have tried the ones by Johnson’s and chicco and mee mee. But I liked the chicco and mee mee ones. As they are very gentle on the baby’s skin and they don’t cry or very fast.

12. Baby carrier – well there is a variety of them available these days. I have and am still using the carrier by mee mee. It’s very comfortable for the baby as well as ergonomically good for the mother or father. With my second one I tried the moby wrap as well. But somehow my Little One was never comfortable in it.

13. Hand towels or face towels – can be used as burp cloths or drool pads.

14. Stroller – once the 45 days not getting out of the house ban is over you can use it for your evening walks together or when shopping at the mall. But jokes apart they can even be used in the house. They can double up as feeding chairs as well. The stroller I have has a tray in front and so I used it for feeding sessions for my elder one. And plan to do so for my younger one as well.

In case the baby is formula fed or fed pumped best milk. Then in addition to all the above you will need.

1. Bottle soap -easily available in the market. I used the one from chicco and pigeon.

2. Bottle brush – to clean the bottles and their nipples.

3. Bottle sterilizer – I used the one from avent and it is really good. No worry of burning the bottles as it has a auto cutoff system. Well you will need this only if your baby is formula fed or is taking pumped breastmilk.

So I hope this will be helpful for the first time mums out there. I hope I didn’t miss out on anything.